Asheville Squadron - Apr 2010

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G a z e t t eVol.1 Issue 14 “Semper Gumby” February - April 2010

Cadets take second at Region

the gumby

By: C/SMSgt Katherine Moore

Sixteen cadets led byC/Maj Joseph Houstonmarched onto the gym oor for standard drill. All thecadets had clearly put time

into learning these drills,which showed as they allexecuted the moves per-fectly.

When they marched outof the building a round of applause erupted. Six eventsdown, one more to go.

A van taking eighteencadets (sixteen on the team,an alternate, and the com-mander) departed fromAsheville and arrived atFort Pickett, VA on Friday,March 19th.

Our very own AshevilleComposite Squadron DrillTeam would be representing North Carolina Wing.

As Major Houston put it,“I knew that no matter howwe did at Wing competitionAsheville would ‘Gumbyup’ and do an amazing jobat region. We had a coupleweeks at meetings and oneSaturday [to practice] andour cadets once again provedto be amazing.” The cadetscompeted against Maryland

Wing and Delaware Wing

in the Drill Competition.The cadets arrived Friday

night in PT gear all set for the volleyball tournament.Asheville came in third place in volleyball. After the game, the cadets turned

in to the barracks for lastminute drilling and somemuch needed rest until thenext day. Not all went smoothly

though. There was a lot of stress on the cadets.

Major Houston describes,“Wing was like my previousexperiences with competi-tion: at home, you know the place, you know the judges,you know most everybody, but the stress is still there.Without a competitor the

judges became our stress.I, as well as the team, knewthey had the nal say inwhether we got to move on.Region: completely differ-ent. First off my father’s car broke along with my moth-er’s,” (one of these vanshappened to be carrying theuniforms and supplies,)

“So on top of that the pressure to move peopleto unknown places and bethere on time only added tothe stress. The thing aboutthe competitors and staff

was just like Wing: every-where you turn someonewas there to help you if youare in need. Col Struggstepped up and loaned usrank when it was needed,and the senior member sup- port from our squadron wasabove and beyond.”

The next day, after break-fast, everyone headed to

a classroom for the writ-ten exam. There were 100questions on the subject of either aerospace, leadership,the CAP chain of command,or current events. After thatwas over, Asheville Cadetssplit into two four-personteams for panel quiz, or “quiz bowl.” The cadetswere given buzzers and

were read off CAP-relatedtoss-up questions, buzzingin when they thought theyknew the answer. Ashevillecame in third place.

Everyone then headed tothe barracks for lunch and ashort break before the milerun. Asheville was rst up,so they cut their break shorter

Continued on page 3



Cadets take second at Region



AE weekend at DuPont State Park By: C/SMSgt Katherine Moore

Nine cadets (four studentsand ve staff) met at DuPontState Forest for a camp outand Aerospace Weekend. Thetraining’s main focus was aero-space education, but it endedup involving emergency ser-vices as well.

To begin with everyone gota packet of supplies that theywould need (scissors, glue,etc.) and were given woodenglider templates to design,cut out, and build. Then thecadets tested them to see howwell they ew and competed tosee whose plane performed the

best.After that the cadets ate

dinner, preparing their ownfood that they brought. Then

everyone moved to the class-room inside the pavilion, whereSenior member Lt. James Mat-thews and C/SMSgt AndrewMoore presented a PowerPointslide show and gave the cadetsa module test.

C/MSgt Katie Houston wonthe award for highest score onthe test. (The award is also

based on being the most atten-tive.) After the class, the cadetsall turned in for the night.

The next day began with building “zzy rockets,” but

the cadets were unable tolaunch them due to leaks in thelm canisters. Instead every-one was sent on a short com-

pass course that led in a circleto help the new cadets learnazimuths.

After that there was a shortlunch break (which was also achance for the cadets to ll uptheir canteens) and then every-one was led onto a three milehike up a mountain (to showthe new cadets what ES mis-sions were like physically).

After that the newer cadetswere led in a team-buildingexercise while the staff had ameeting.

Finally it was time to cleanup the place and make sure itlooked better than it had whenwe got there, after which wetook a few group photos, andleft.

Chaplain takes on squadron dutiesBy 1st Lt. Clint Parker

Major Everett Wood-

cock has accepted an

invitation to serve as the

Gumby Squadron’s chap-

lain.

“I welcome the oppor-

Editor’s NoteJust a quick note of apology for the tardiness of

this issue. Hope everyone enjoys it!

tunity to be more directly

involved in the activities

of the squadron,” said

Woodcock.

Major Woodcock

replaces Chaplain Paine

who has experienced

increased pastoral and

family responsibilities, a

frequent challenge to vol-

unteer service.

Here are ways you can

contact the new chap-

lain with whatever ideas

or suggestions you may

have:

Address: 266 Mer-

rimon Ave. Asheville,

NC. 28801, Telephone:

254-9140, or e-mail:

[email protected]



Here cadets are not holding hands in a show of solidarity.This is a team building exercise in which they have towork out of this tangled mess with out letting go of theother cadets’ hands.

After moving to new facilities

Squadron gets right back to training

Another Asheville cadet gets his wings

Above: Seniors work on their map skills at one of themeetings and then head outside (right) to put what they

learned in class to the test.

By 1st Lt. Clint Parker

One of Civil Air Patrol’s

mission is to teach aero-

space education and at the

Gumby Squadron, cadets

not only get classroom and

orientation ights, but sev-eral cadets, of late, have

been pinned with their wings

after getting their private

pilot licenses all because

of programs like the ight

academy and instructors

willing to donate their time

and knowledge to these

young pilots.

Former cadet and new

senior member Christian

Sluder is just the latest cadet

to get his wings during an

April meeting.

Left, Sluder (Center) with

his grandfather, CAP 1st Lt.

Chuck Sprinkle (far left),

his CAP instructor, Capt.

Rocky Flemming, and his

parents, Kelvin and Carolyn

Sluder.

By 1st Lt. Clint Parker

After moving into their new facilities at the Army

National Guard Armory (the only squadron in North

Carolina to be allowed such an honor) in the Richmond

Hills area of Asheville, the Gumby Squadron got right

back to what made the squadron one of the best in the

state, training.

Senior members have now been asked to cross train in

other areas of emergency services. Air crews and pilots

are now training in ground team classes and ground team

personnel are taking air crew classes, while observers

and scanners are being asked to learn more about whatthe pilot does in paperwork and preight.

Cadets, who won second place in regional competi-

tion, are back at training taking advantage of the nearby

woods and trails at the armory for ground team training

and the facilities to do team building exercises and drill.

Asheville Squadron - Apr 2010

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